Dougall Carmichael, (8 November 1885 15 September 1945), was a Canadian farmer,

war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero' ...

, politician and public servant.

Personal life

Born as Dougald Carmichael to John and Mary Carmichael in 1885 in Collingwood Township, Grey County, Ontario,. Older brother to Capt. John Carmichael, who died of injuries incurred as a field ambulance driver in France on April 20, 1918, and Nursing Sister Rachel Carmichael, Dougall grew up to become a farmer. He married Bessie Devereaux in Collingwood in 1920, after returning home from World War I. Together, they had one child, Mary Devereaux Carmichael, six grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren. In 1928, Bessie was injured and remained bedridden, leading Dougall to sell his farm and move their family to Ottawa, where he became a civil servant, and later a Colonel in a military training facility in Brockville.

World War I

Carmichael served in the Canadian Militia for ten years in 35th Simcoe Foresters, before enlisting into the 58th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, in 1915. He attained the rank of Major, and became

second in command ''Second in Command'' is a 2006 American action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and directed by Simon Fellows. The film was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on May 2, 2006. Plot Commander Sam Keenan (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a decor ...

of the 58th. He had many raids to his credit, and showed up well in all battles. When Colonel George Pearkes was wounded in September 1918, Carmichael took over his command of the 116th Battalion and faced violent opposition at Cambrai. He received numerous honours for his service: :*

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

and

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1919 :*

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

and

in 1917 and 1918 :* Mentioned in dispatches in 1918 and 1919

Political career

Shortly after his discharge from service in 1919, he stood in the Ontario general election, and was elected in Grey Centre. He became Minister without portfolio in the

United Farmers of Ontario The United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) was an agrarian and populist provincial political party in Ontario, Canada. It was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century. History Foundation and r ...

–

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

coalition government which was in office from 1919 to 1923. He was given the responsibility of being the government representative on the

Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

, and specifically with keeping its chairman

Adam Beck Sir Adam Beck (June 20, 1857 – August 15, 1925) was a Canadian politician and hydroelectricity advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Biography Beck was born in Baden, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to German i ...

in line. He also promoted the cause of

rural electrification Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2017, over 1 billion ...

. At one point in 1922, Carmichael announced to the Legislature that he was quitting his position as Commissioner because Hydro "was either inefficient or dishonest." He was forced to retract the allegation of dishonesty. He also continued to be Commissioner until the following year. Hydro's plans for the promotion of

interurban railway The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

s were significantly scaled back after the Sutherland Commission's report on the subject recommended it in 1921, and its affairs in general were the subject of the Gregory Commission appointed in 1922. Carmichael retained his seat in the 1923 general election, in contrast to the fortunes of many of his UFO colleagues, and returned to his farm. He contested the federal 1925 election in

Grey North Grey North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867, which divided the County of Grey in ...

as a Progressive candidate, but lost to the incumbent Matthew Robert Duncan. Grey Centre was abolished before the 1926 general election, and he did not campaign elsewhere.

Public service

In 1930, Carmichael was appointed as a member of the War Veterans Allowance Board. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he returned to military service as a colonel in charge of a training centre at

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Le ...

for a year, but returned to Ottawa to become Acting chairman of the board in 1942 and chairman in 1944. He died in 1945. He is buried in Collingwood Presbyterian Cemetery.

References

External links